When I scheduled a test kitchen day at work, I didn’t think about it being the first day of the Hobbit Diet. Not that it would change anything but it was interesting for me to try to log what I just made into MyFitnessPal app. What was I going to test? Braised Chicken with Baby Artichokes, originally from Williams-Sonoma blog. Fortunately, someone else made a similar recipe–actually, one of the recipes I considered testing–and added the calorie counts to the database. Surprisingly, this recipe is quite a healthy one at 280 calories per serving (if serving 6). My lab rats…I meant,... Continue reading...

It wasn’t difficult for me to fall in love with Italian cuisine. One of the restaurants we frequented growing up was Thailand’s first Italian establishment owned by a Thai guy. My dad’s friend, to be exact. My mom also made some killer bolognese in the slow cooker and I was always envied when I brought spaghetti to lunch at school. As you know, when I first started to cook when Brandon and I got married, it was Rachael Ray who got me into the kitchen, but I quickly graduated from her onto Giada DeLaurentiis. I can see some of you... Continue reading...